M
Mouse
Guest
^ That lovely fudge looks absolutely wonderful, McDamned. Pity I can't eat it. 
Anna Mouse's Indian Chicken
Since I returned from Mumbai, this splendid chicken curry has been made every week. Because it tastes so good! Unlike my hungry bunch of which there are many, I have adapted this recipe to generously serve two.
1.25 lb bone-in chicken, dark meat, de-skinned (I used 6 drum sticks)
4 tbsp mustard oil (substitute with ghee)
2 bay leaves
1 cup thin sliced red onions
2 medium tomatoes, roughly diced
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
3 garlic cloves
1" fresh ginger shoot
half a teaspoon turmeric powder
sea salt to taste
up to 1 cup water (depending on the consistency of gravy you want)
chopped cilantro for garnish. Or use parsely
Spices for Marinade
one and a half teaspoons coriander seeds
about 8-10 black peppercorns
3 cloves
2 whole green cardamom
half teaspoon cumin seeeds
a twig of mace
1" cinnamon stick
5 whole dry red chillies (adjust to tolerance), but I think fresh jalapeños have a fruitier taste
2 teaspoons Kashmiri chilli powder (this lends curry the beautiful red coloor, not the heat)
half teaspoon turmeric powder
half teaspoon salt
one-quarter cup water
Notes: In the spices for marinade above, you can substitute whole seeds with lightly dry roasted coriander, black pepper, cayenne, paprika, cardamom powder.
Wash the chicken pieces thoroughly and pat dry using a paper towel. Set aside.
In a small sauce pan, on low heat, dry roast all the whole spices for marinade (except turmeric, kashmiri chilli powder and salt) till you smell the aroma. About 3-4 minutes, but be watchful the spices don't burn. Let the roasted spices cool down a bit. Once cooled, tip into your coffee grinder or using mortar & pestle which I think is preferable, grind the spices. You don't want them to be powdery. Add the turmeric, Kashmiri chilli powder and salt to the ground spices. Mix this with one-quarter of a cup of water in a small bowl to make the marinade.
In a Ziploc bag or a bowl, place the cleaned chicken along with the marinade and rub a little so that all the pieces are covered in the marinade. Set aside for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight in the refrigerator to marinate. Try and do overnight as the flavours will have married beautifully into the meat.
Take out the marinated chicken from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes prior to cooking. Once ready to cook, heat up oil in a heavy bottomed pot on medium heat. Once the oil is just smoking, lower the heat and add the chopped onions to the pot. Add the bay leaves, too. Cook the onions till golden brown. About 8 minutes, I reckon.
Meanwhile add the tomatoes, yogurt, garlic, ginger to your food processor and pulse to a smooth mixture. Once the onions have browned, reduce the flame to low and add the tomato-yogurt mix to the pot, stir to combine well with onions. Also add the 1/2 tsp turmeric powder. Cook on low-medium heat with constant stirring to avoid curdling of the yogurt. Initially, you will see yogurt releasing water, but that's okay. Increase the heat to medium and keep on stirring till you see oil separating on the sides of the pot.
Add the marinated chicken to the pot next. Add salt to taste. Keep on stirring around the chicken pieces so that they do not stick to the bottom of the pan. They will slowly start releasing their juices - mmmmm! Keep on turning around and cooking the chicken pieces on medium heat for good 20-25 minutes or till they are 95% cooked. Add water to the pot now depending on the desired consistency of the gravy, check the salt again, cover the pot with a lid and cook the curry for another 10 minutes or so till the chicken is completely cooked.You will need to stir in between once or twice.
Once the curry is cooked, remove from heat and let sit covered for at least 45 min - 1 hour before serving.
Garnish with cilantro & serve warm. Whether you serve with flatbread or rice, I highly recommend making kachumber (Indian salsa) alongside.
Kachumber recipe
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
1-2 Thai green chilli (optional, but I love them)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
sea salt to taste
pinch of roasted cumin powder
Combine all the chopped vegetables in a bowl. Add fresh lemon juice and cumin powder (if using).Refrigerate until ready to serve. Add salt before serving, mix well. Note that you can decrease or increase the quantity of vegetables from what I have mentioned. The quantities above are what I generally use.
Anna Mouse's Indian Chicken
Since I returned from Mumbai, this splendid chicken curry has been made every week. Because it tastes so good! Unlike my hungry bunch of which there are many, I have adapted this recipe to generously serve two.
1.25 lb bone-in chicken, dark meat, de-skinned (I used 6 drum sticks)
4 tbsp mustard oil (substitute with ghee)
2 bay leaves
1 cup thin sliced red onions
2 medium tomatoes, roughly diced
3 tablespoons plain yogurt
3 garlic cloves
1" fresh ginger shoot
half a teaspoon turmeric powder
sea salt to taste
up to 1 cup water (depending on the consistency of gravy you want)
chopped cilantro for garnish. Or use parsely
Spices for Marinade
one and a half teaspoons coriander seeds
about 8-10 black peppercorns
3 cloves
2 whole green cardamom
half teaspoon cumin seeeds
a twig of mace
1" cinnamon stick
5 whole dry red chillies (adjust to tolerance), but I think fresh jalapeños have a fruitier taste
2 teaspoons Kashmiri chilli powder (this lends curry the beautiful red coloor, not the heat)
half teaspoon turmeric powder
half teaspoon salt
one-quarter cup water
Notes: In the spices for marinade above, you can substitute whole seeds with lightly dry roasted coriander, black pepper, cayenne, paprika, cardamom powder.
Wash the chicken pieces thoroughly and pat dry using a paper towel. Set aside.
In a small sauce pan, on low heat, dry roast all the whole spices for marinade (except turmeric, kashmiri chilli powder and salt) till you smell the aroma. About 3-4 minutes, but be watchful the spices don't burn. Let the roasted spices cool down a bit. Once cooled, tip into your coffee grinder or using mortar & pestle which I think is preferable, grind the spices. You don't want them to be powdery. Add the turmeric, Kashmiri chilli powder and salt to the ground spices. Mix this with one-quarter of a cup of water in a small bowl to make the marinade.
In a Ziploc bag or a bowl, place the cleaned chicken along with the marinade and rub a little so that all the pieces are covered in the marinade. Set aside for at least 3 hours or preferably overnight in the refrigerator to marinate. Try and do overnight as the flavours will have married beautifully into the meat.
Take out the marinated chicken from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes prior to cooking. Once ready to cook, heat up oil in a heavy bottomed pot on medium heat. Once the oil is just smoking, lower the heat and add the chopped onions to the pot. Add the bay leaves, too. Cook the onions till golden brown. About 8 minutes, I reckon.
Meanwhile add the tomatoes, yogurt, garlic, ginger to your food processor and pulse to a smooth mixture. Once the onions have browned, reduce the flame to low and add the tomato-yogurt mix to the pot, stir to combine well with onions. Also add the 1/2 tsp turmeric powder. Cook on low-medium heat with constant stirring to avoid curdling of the yogurt. Initially, you will see yogurt releasing water, but that's okay. Increase the heat to medium and keep on stirring till you see oil separating on the sides of the pot.
Add the marinated chicken to the pot next. Add salt to taste. Keep on stirring around the chicken pieces so that they do not stick to the bottom of the pan. They will slowly start releasing their juices - mmmmm! Keep on turning around and cooking the chicken pieces on medium heat for good 20-25 minutes or till they are 95% cooked. Add water to the pot now depending on the desired consistency of the gravy, check the salt again, cover the pot with a lid and cook the curry for another 10 minutes or so till the chicken is completely cooked.You will need to stir in between once or twice.
Once the curry is cooked, remove from heat and let sit covered for at least 45 min - 1 hour before serving.
Garnish with cilantro & serve warm. Whether you serve with flatbread or rice, I highly recommend making kachumber (Indian salsa) alongside.
Kachumber recipe
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
1-2 Thai green chilli (optional, but I love them)
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
sea salt to taste
pinch of roasted cumin powder
Combine all the chopped vegetables in a bowl. Add fresh lemon juice and cumin powder (if using).Refrigerate until ready to serve. Add salt before serving, mix well. Note that you can decrease or increase the quantity of vegetables from what I have mentioned. The quantities above are what I generally use.
